Ret. Major Travis Riley lost last battle with PTSD

Months after veteran took his life, his Louisville family searches for answers

WDRB News
Lindsay Allen
Dec 19, 2019

"And at that moment, I looked down as I'm putting it down ... and saw one sentence myself that told me everything in one sentence what we could possibly find.

"That sentence said, 'Please cremate me.'"

Riley's body was found the next morning. He had committed suicide.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Penny Riley found her husband’s car abandoned in a Louisville park on Aug. 15, 2019. He hadn't returned her text messages, so she left home, fearing what she'd find.

Inside his car, alongside a file folder, a McDonald's bag and his phone, she found three letters, one for each of his family members. She took her letter, opened it, and began to read, her eyes stopping at one sentence.

“Please cremate me.”

Travis Riley joined the Army at age 18, later served in the Kentucky National Guard and climbed his way to the rank of major. He served in Afghanistan for a year, and his wife said he often talked about the sounds of battle.

"'You're going to hear the air traffic. You're going to hear the far-off gunfire. You're constantly hearing that sound,'" Penny Riley recalls her husband telling her. "We would Skype a lot, and I could hear that through Skype, the noises, and he would say, 'That's just what we hear all the time Penny. That's normal here. It's OK.'"

The Louisville man devoted his life to his family and his country.
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Soldier home on leave for Christmas killed with 1 year old son by wrong way driver

Soldier home for Christmas, 1-year-old son killed in Unicoi County crash

WCYB 5 News
by Caleb Perhne
December 20th 2019

UNICOI COUNTY, Tenn. — Local communities are mourning after three people died in a head-on crash on Interstate 26.

23-year-old Anthony Owens, a native of Unicoi County, and his 1-year-old son, Richard, were travelling west on the interstate Thursday night. That's when police say 42-year-old Tina Marshall of Jonesborough crashed into him driving the wrong way. All three died.

Owens' family is now grieving the loss of a son and grandson just days before Christmas.
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Supporting the troops reduced to just a slogan at Fort Campbell

update Of the more than $3.6 billion that was redirected to the wall, $80 million came from projects in North Carolina, including $40 million for a new battalion complex and ambulatory care center at Camp Lejeune, $6.4 million for a storage facility for the new KC-46 tanker at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and $32.9 million for a previously canceled elementary school at Fort Bragg. The ambulatory care center was to replace current facilities that are “substandard, inefficient, decentralized and uncontrolled,” according to the military.

This report makes me sick to think about how many times we hear "support the troops" yet this verifies our politicians reduced it to a slogan!

Their loved ones serve our country but call their living conditions a slap in the face

FOX 17 News
by Erika Glover
December 19th 2019

“Why should my husband, or anybody’s husband or spouse, be deployed or be training and having to worry about if their family is sick this week and in the hospital because of the hazardous conditions?”

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (WZTV) — Back in February, concerned military spouses took their housing frustrations to Capitol Hill. Those at the top vowed to make a change.

However, Fort Campbell families allege some are still feeling the burdens of potentially hazardous housing conditions.

“I am appalled. I am frustrated. I am angry,” said one military wife who concealed her identity out of fear of retaliation.

For nearly one year, her family of four lived in Fort Campbell's on-post housing at the Pierce Village apartments. She said brown recluse spiders took over their two-story duplex, despite paying more than $1,300 per month.

“When I was doing dishes they would crawl across the counter,” she explained. “If I was sitting on the couch, they would crawl on my legs. They were in our bed. They were in our clothes.”

The concerned mother shared photos of mold hidden behind walls and chipping lead-based paint. There are other families, she said, who are currently exposed to these housing conditions.
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Add San Diego Navy housing to this.

Defense Bill Provides New Rights For Families In Private Military Housing

Medal of Honor Bruce W. Carter Vietnam War Fallen Hero Needs to Be Buried at Arlington!

War hero’s mother wants son buried at Arlington — 50 years later

Miami Herald
BY THEO KARANTSALIS SPECIAL TO THE MIAMI HERALD
DECEMBER 08, 2019

“Dying for freedom isn’t the worst thing that can happen,” said Carter’s mother, Georgie Carter-Krell, 88, of Virginia Gardens. “Being forgotten is.”

Georgie Carter-Krell, 88, of Virginia Gardens, speaks at a 2011 Veterans Day event about how her son, Pvt. First-Class Bruce W. Carter, was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. THEO KARANTSALIS FOR THE MIAMI HERALD

A teenage Marine knew what to do when he was pinned down by enemy fire in Vietnam and a grenade was tossed between him and his friends.

Pvt. First-Class Bruce W. Carter, 19, was posthumously awarded the nation’s highest medal for valor in combat.

“Dying for freedom isn’t the worst thing that can happen,” said Carter’s mother, Georgie Carter-Krell, 88, of Virginia Gardens. “Being forgotten is.”

Carter-Krell said she has reached out to President Trump’s office for help in transferring her son’s body from Miami to Arlington but has not yet received a call back.

A message from the Herald seeking comment from President Trump’s press office Thursday was not immediately returned.

“Something like this needs to come from the top,” said Carter-Krell.
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Offutt Air Force Base Servicemember and Spouse Found Dead

2 dead in shooting near Offutt identified as active-duty service member, spouse

Omaha World Herald
By Kevin Cole and Jessica Wade / World-Herald staff writers
1 hr ago

Offutt Air Force Base officials have confirmed that two people died Saturday night in a shooting in a base community.

An active-duty service member from Offutt and their spouse died, a spokesman for the Air Force base said Sunday. The bodies were discovered about 8:15 p.m. in Rising View, Offutt’s privatized housing area in Bellevue.

Law enforcement officials from Offutt and Sarpy County responded to a call from the home, the spokesman said. The names of the deceased are being held pending notification of the next of kin.

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations detachment at Offutt is leading the investigation. A post on the Offutt-based 55th Wing's Facebook page by Col. Gavin P. Marks, commander of the wing, confirmed the deaths.
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186 reported suicide deaths in 2017, including 123 spouses and 63 dependents

Here’s what first-ever data shows about military family suicides

Military Times
By: Karen Jowers  
September 26, 2019

Of the 123 spouses who died by suicide in 2017, 14 percent, or about 17, were active duty, in dual military marriages.

Getty Images/Stock

The prevalence of suicide among military family members is about the same or less than in the civilian population, according to a report from the Defense Department.

It’s the first time data on military family member suicides has ever been released by the Defense Department. This report includes one year of data: 2017, so there’s no basis of comparison for trends within the community.

Data from 2017 is also the most recent available, because the information is partly dependent on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The overall suicide rate among family members was 6.8 per 100,000 population in 2017, which is less than half the rate in the U.S. general population of 14.5 per 100,000. This measurement is the standard comparison used by the government for suicide rates in populations.

The overall military spouse rate of suicide was 11.5 per 100,000; the rate for dependents was 3.8 per 100,000. Adjusting for age and gender, the rates were comparable to or lower than those in the general population, officials said.

According to the report:
There were 186 reported suicide deaths in 2017, including 123 spouses and 63 dependents. The dependents ranged in age from 12 to 23; and almost half of the dependents who died were 18 years or older. Two-thirds of the spouses who died by suicide were female, and 82 percent were under age 40.

Ages 18 to 60 were used in the rate comparison for spouses. When examined by age, officials said, the suicide rates for female military spouses was 9.1 and for male spouses, 29.4 per 100,000 population. For females and males in the general population, the rates were 8.4 and 28.4 per 100,000 population, respectively.

For active duty spouses, the rate is higher: 13.2 per 100,000.

Firearms were used in more than half of the suicide deaths of military spouses and dependents. For female spouses, that trend departs from suicides of females of similar age in the U.S. general population, where poisoning or drug overdose were as prevalent as firearms.
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...and yet, according to the DOD, they have been working very hard to support the families who support their servicemembers! Seriously?

Miracles happen Oklahoma veteran died saving granddaughter

“He was all about that baby and she was all about him,” Grandfather dies after saving 3-year-old granddaughter from house explosion

KFOR 4 News
Kelsey Hill
September 24, 2019

“Just thought about the steep grade of that driveway and just knew and kind of came to the conclusions that they were carried up that driveway you know. It wasn`t him, it wasn`t her something carried them up that driveway." Brendon Osteen

MAUD, Okla. - A grandfather rescued his 3-year-old granddaughter after the home they were in exploded.

Don Osteen was a longtime educator, Army Veteran, and Purple Heart recipient. He spent his life putting others first and would help anyone if they needed it, even a stranger.

Brendon Osteen says his father looked forward to every minute that he could spend with his granddaughter, Paetyn.

"That`s what he was first and foremost I mean he was all about that baby and she was all about him,” said Osteen.

He said his father was 15 to 30 feet away from the front door, lighting a candle next to the stove when the explosion happened.

“He wasn`t worried about himself at all. I'll leave it at that, but save her was the message he was trying to get across and he did exactly that,” said Osteen.
v Osteen suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs, and severe burns, but he was able to carry Paetyn to safety, even navigating the family’s steep driveway to get help.

“He just got out of the house and headed straight to where he knew help was. He tried to get in his truck and his keys were melted to him. His phone was exploded in his pocket," he said.
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Michigan disabled Navy veteran asked for help and got more than he expected

‘You’re not forgotten’: Michigan residents respond to disabled Navy veteran’s Craigslist ad

Lansing State Journal
Kristan Obeng, Published
Sept. 18, 2019

OLIVET – The brain surgery Jeffrey Hempel underwent in August left the Navy veteran a physically changed man in need of assistance.

Jeff Hempel, 69, recovers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota after brain surgery in this undated photo. (Photo: Nora Hempel)

His tongue swelled, muffling his words.

The double vision that resulted post-surgery has prevented him from driving.

He no longer has the mobility needed to haul water and feed the 50 chickens, two goats and various rabbits on his 15-acre property in Olivet.

“My poor wife has to do everything,” Hempel said.

He decided he needed to sell his farm animals, a decision he struggled with.

“It’s hard on him because he loves ‘his girls’ as he calls (the animals),” Hempel’s wife, Nora, said.

The 69-year-old also found he could no longer chop and stack his own firewood, something he had been doing for 30 years.

Not wanting to be a burden, Hempel did something he rarely did: He asked for help.

Hempel posted an ad on Craigslist asking for help gathering and chopping firewood. The response was more than he expected. He received help from people across Michigan within 48 hours.

Two non-profits catering to military veterans united to help Hempel after discovering his Craigslist ad.

“(Jeff) said he called different organizations to get help, and they kept passing him around like a dollar bill,” stated Ed Henley of Fishing It Forward, a group that takes veterans fishing.

Morgan’s Hugs also wanted to ensure Hempel got the help he needed.

The organization was started by Morgan Scarbo, a 15-year-old whose father is a disabled veteran, according to the teenager’s mother, Deborah Scarbo.

“We just try to help veterans as best as we could,” said Deborah Scarbo. “Another friend, Trish Barker and her granddaughter, Lexi, are going to be delivering groceries we got for him. It’s a big team of people trying to help.”

The goal for both non-profits is to provide Hempel with enough firewood for two years, according to Henley.

Firefighters from the Springport Fire Department also assisted by transporting some of the firewood using their personal vehicles.

Another organization, New Horizon, provided meals to volunteers helping Hempel.

“It was unbelievably generous,” Hempel said. “I’m just shocked. I’m humbled.”
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Why does the DOD ignore military domestic violence

update Commands Protect Troops and Fail Families in Domestic Abuse Cases, Victims Say

Military.com
By Patricia Kime
19 Sep 2019

For three years, Kate Ranta said she endured escalating abuse at the hands of her husband, Air Force Maj. Thomas Maffei.

The alleged violence began when the couple lived in military housing at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and, she said, became worse after they moved to Florida, where Maffei planned to retire. One day after a fight, she said, Maffei grabbed a gun and the couple's two-year-old and left home, only to return a short time later to convince the police that he was a war veteran who had been injured in an IED blast in Iraq.

It was a lie, Ranta says. Maffei hadn't seen combat and was, in fact, still on active duty, having forged moving orders and leaving his unit in the Washington, D.C., area without retiring. After the incident, she reported him to his command, launching a lengthy Air Force Office of Special Investigations case, which concluded that he should face a court-martial.
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Is military domestic violence a ‘forgotten crisis’?

Military Times
By: Leo Shane III  
September 18, 2019

Wednesday’s hearing included testimony from a series of abuse victims who said their problems were exacerbated by military leadership, instead of receiving help and support.

Members from Fleet and Family Support Center promote the resources they offer to help with managing stress on Nov. 20, 2018, at Portsmouth, Va. (Petty Officer 1st Class Laura Myers/Navy)

House lawmakers are blasting defense officials for allowing domestic abuse to become “a forgotten crisis” in the military, saying not enough has been done to protect victims, punish attackers or even track the issue.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., chairwoman of House Armed Services Committee’s personnel panel, said she is looking at possible legislative changes on the topic, to include mandating a higher level of command review for any criminal abuse and required reports on how cases have been handled.

“Military spouses are often isolated, living far from friends or family and unfamiliar with local resources,” she said at a hearing on the topic Wednesday, “It’s unfortunately easy to see how these conditions can make domestic violence possible, more dangerous, and persistent.
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Older caregivers waited longer to matter...will wait even long according to GAO

VA’s $900 Million Caregiver Program Bogged Down by Bad Data, IT Issues, GAO Finds

Military.com
By Patricia Kime
17 Sep 2019

The VA missed a progress deadline on building the needed system on Oct. 1, 2018, and the department will not be able to certify the system by Oct. 1, 2019, as required by Congress. This means that caregivers of veterans from the Vietnam War and earlier will not be able to apply as expected starting Oct. 1.

In this March 31, 2015, file photo, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center is shown in Portland, Oregon. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Inaccurate data kept by the Department of Veterans Affairs on its staff for the Family Caregiver Program and delays in the technology infrastructure needed to expand the program are hampering an effort to include the caregivers of injured veterans from World War II through Vietnam, a government watchdog agency has found.

The Government Accountability Office released a report Monday noting that the number of staff supporting the Family Caregiver Program at VA medical centers does not match the data kept by the program office -- an inaccuracy that prevents the VA from fully understanding the number of personnel that will be needed as the program grows.

The GAO also found that delays in implementing a new information technology system needed to support the program mean the expansion, mandated by Congress, is not expected for at least a year.

"The initial replacement for the Caregiver Application Tracker is not expected until late October 2019. Further, despite this initial deployment and additional releases expected through the summer of 2020, the department has not yet fully committed to a date by which it will certify that the new IT system fully supports the program," GAO analysts noted in the report.
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Sailor wins lawsuit after baby boy left brain damaged

US government settles allegations Navy doctor mishandled child birth for $11.5 million

THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Scott Daugherty
SEP 14, 2019

A sailor gave birth five years ago to a baby boy at a Navy hospital. Things went wrong and the child suffered severe and permanent brain damage.

The Walter E. Hoffman United States Courthouse. (Thé Pham)

If the delivery happened in Virginia, any possible malpractice award would be capped at $2.15 million.

But Petty Officer 1st Class Deardre Bebeau gave birth in Guam, where local law doesn’t cap malpractice claims. The difference meant millions of dollars for her family.

The federal government agreed Friday to pay $11.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Bebeau and her husband, Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Bebeau Sr., both of Virginia Beach.
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90 Army posts have contaminated drinking water

update List of Bases Contaminated with PFAS Chemicals Expected to Grow, Pentagon Says

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These 90 Army posts have contaminated drinking water

Military Times
By: Meghann Myers
  September 11, 2019

“Because many PFAS chemicals build up in the body, even very low concentrations in drinking water can increase the risks of serious health problems. What’s more, the lack of regular monitoring suggests that military personnel could have been drinking water with even higher levels of PFAS in the past.” EWG senior scientist Dave Andrews

As a Pentagon task force looks into unsafe drinking water on its installations, a new list of Army posts has been added to the roster of bases where per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been found in ground water as recently as this year.

Ninety active Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard posts are on the list, obtained by the Environmental Working Group by Freedom of Information Act request, the findings of which were posted to the organization’s site late Tuesday night. The Army says that despite the confirmed presence of PFAS in the drinking water, no one is taking in unsafe levels of the chemicals, because their filtered water complies with Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

Still, the EWG remains concerned.

Seventy-three on the list are Guard facilities, including armories, readiness centers and training areas. Of the hundreds of bases known to be contaminated, the Defense Department was required by the EPA to test about 70 following a 2012 rule on contamination monitoring.
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PTSD "help heal your shattered soul, until once again, my love, you are whole."

Reducing Veteran Deaths this Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

BeLatina
By Daily News
September 9, 2019

"Broken by battle, wounded by war. My love is forever to you, this I swore. I will quiet your silent screams, help heal your shattered soul, until once again, my love, you are whole."

Suicide Prevention Awareness Month should serve as a reminder for all of us to look out for the most vulnerable members of our communities, many of whom become suicidal following life experiences that most of us can hardly fathom. Military veterans are one of the groups most at risk for suicide, facing a much higher rate than the average American adult does, even as suicide rates for the general public have risen to their highest levels in modern and recent history. 

As of a 2015 report from the Pew Research Center, Latinos made up approximately 12 percent of the U.S. military, a rapidly growing contingent, so military suicide prevention will likely become a growing concern for the Latinx community in the years to come.

A few weeks prior to this year’s Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mark Takano called upon the nation to consider veteran suicides an urgent national crisis, demanding a “nation-wide stand-down” in order to implement effective strategies that will immediately save veteran lives. He cited the fact that Congressional action has been insufficient in addressing this national crisis. “That’s why I’m calling for VA to hold a nation-wide suicide stand-down within the next 15 days so every leadership executive, administrator, nurse, doctor, and employee across VA understands how to identify veterans in crisis and get them the help they need,” he said in a statement late last month. He pointed out that there is no national director or leader in this initiative, a predicament that certainly has handicapped any campaigns to reducing suicide deaths among veterans. read it here

64% of Military families want out of base poor housing

Most Army Families Say They'd Move Off-Base If They Could to Escape Poor Housing

Military.com
By Richard Sisk
9 Sep 2019

A large majority (64%) of Army military families would move off base if they could afford it to escape poor housing conditions, a lack of oversight by commanders, and the petty harassment of private housing managers, according to a report published Sept. 5 by the office of the Army Inspector General.

Fort Meade housing. Army photo

At 48 of 49 installations surveyed by the IG, residents in privatized housing cited concerns with "environmental" issues, including mold, lead-based paint, asbestos, water quality, open sewage and radon gas, the report states.

Families who complained to property managers said they often faced retaliation, reprisals and petty harassment from the private management companies, according to the report.

"Examples from residents included additional move-out fees, fines due to yard maintenance or other discrepancies, and threats to call or involve the chain of command in various issues," IG investigators wrote. "In each case, residents described these types of actions immediately or shortly following a negative encounter with the private companies/property management team."
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Who put the stigma on PTSD? Ignorant jerks!

Stupid stigma of PTSD is missing link

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 9, 2019

When I first began to research PTSD, it was for very selfish reasons. I was falling in love with a Vietnam veteran. The more I learned about PTSD, the more I loved him. Simple as that.

That was 37 years ago, and we are celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary this month. Anyone who still suggests that having PTSD is something to be ashamed of, remind them there is no shame in being a survivor.

Researchers in Colorado found that most veterans did not seek help for PTSD because of the stigma attached to it.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A new study released by the Colorado Health Institute last week focused on veterans and suicide, and why the rate in Colorado is higher than the nation's. The study found that nearly seven out of 10 veterans in Colorado who did not receive the mental health care they needed reported stigma-related reasons as a barrier. That's nearly double the percentage compared to non-veterans.

Who put the stigma there? Who gave it such great power that it can prevent veterans from asking for help?

The thing is, what works would work a lot better, if what failed was no longer allowed to get in the way.

While the Veterans Crisis Line has helped reduce the number of veterans completing suicide, it is an example of how bad it actually is for veterans.

Since its launch in 2007, the Veterans Crisis Line has answered more than 3.9 million calls and initiated the dispatch of emergency services to callers in crisis more than 119,000 times. The Veterans Crisis Line anonymous online chat service, added in 2009, has engaged in nearly 467,000 chats. In November 2011, the Veterans Crisis Line introduced a text messaging service to provide another way for Veterans to connect with confidential, round-the-clock support and since then has responded to nearly 123,000 texts.

If the VA Crisis Line was not there, the numbers we are seeing would be even higher. A lot of the programs the VA has work great, but the majority of veterans in this country do not use the VA for anything. Again, there is a stigma attached to that too. (see below) 

We know that suicide awareness does not work. 

Letting veterans know they are killing themselves makes no sense at all. If the goal is to educate the civilian community, again, it makes no sense since the number of civilians committing suicide has also increased. It seems to only benefit those doing the events to raise money and gain fame. How? Because according to the VA, the known number of veterans committing suicide has remained between 20 and 22 since 1999...when no one was making citizens aware it was happening and there were over 5 million more veterans alive at the time.

This stuff also gets in the way.


While we are trying to #breakthesilence to prevent suicide, it seems that some have embraced it.

Silent Watch Raises Awareness For Veteran Suicide

They want people to stand in silence for 15 minute shifts. Silence contributed to the end of those who lost hope.

With the VA Crisis Line being reached by almost 4 millions calls, now members of congress are pushing for a three digit number.

Advocates Hope For A 'Turning Point' In Suicide Prevention With 988 Crisis Hotline Number "Samaritans has one of three call centers in Massachusetts that receive calls from the national hotline, which can currently be accessed by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Samaritans also receives calls and texts from its own local hotline number, 1-877-870-HOPE (4673)."

Will it help? Maybe but as long as the stigma is there, it will not help as many as it could.

There needs to be a massive effort addressing the stigma itself, because if they actually understand what PTSD is, then the stigma dies...but they stay alive.

Most veterans do not understand that PTSD is not self-inflicted. It hit them! The only way to get PTSD is surviving something traumatic. The term itself means "after wound" and just a bonus reminder, trauma is Greek for wound.

As survivors, they already beat death once. More than likely they did not accomplish that on their own. They had help fighting that enemy and need help to fight this enemy too!

Widow discovered husband's secret life...diary of PTSD and POW

Discovery of WWII diary revives a Sarasota widow’s trauma

Herald Tribune
Billy Cox
September 6, 2019

Lorraine Glixon recently discovered her late husband’s World War II diary. Harry Glixon was a POW who was part of a historic prisoner exchange with Nazi Germany in 1944.

SARASOTA — Struggling through Parkinson’s disease, dementia and a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, Harry Glixon spent the last decade of his life racing the undertaker, pecking away at the keyboards with the two-fingered intensity that characterized his typing skills.

His widow, Lorraine, describes him as “obsessed” as the old warrior demanded more and more of her time to edit the manuscript he would call “My Story.” Over the years, she would sometimes hear him coming to terms with what he’d done and seen, raising his voice in his study, “I can’t do this! I can’t do this!” And Lorraine discovered she couldn’t do it, either.

After Lorraine gave up, Harry relied on three outside editors/writers to advance his memoir to an abrupt ending in 1962. That’s how far he’d gotten when, in 2006, 11 years into “My Story,” Harry took a spill in his motorized wheelchair and never recovered. He died a year later, at age 86.

The unfinished work that Harry Glixon left behind was so raw — and in so many ways, unflattering — that he requested in the preface that “the contents of my book be kept from the children until at least their 25th birthday.”

He had hoped, according to that preface, that his accounting would “demonstrate that I was a good person and not selfish.” But he also feared his journey through the past would “regenerate old demons and impact and diminish my current happiness.” And that, according to Lorraine, is exactly what happened.

Of the unfinished memoir’s 304 pages, roughly 80 are devoted to World War II, during which Harry Glixon earned two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star with V for Valor and a recommendation for the Distinguished Service Cross. He also made history in such unprecedented fashion, it played on newsreels that cheered audiences in both the U.S. and Germany.
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What do you want to leave behind when you die?

What do you want to leave behind?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 1, 2019

With all the talk about veterans committing suicide, there doesn't seem to be enough time to talk about reasons to not do it. 

Doing whatever I can to get to the day when the stigma of PTSD is dead and more of you are still alive. Lately I find myself losing hope that one day it will happen. 

I search the internet for hours, looking for that one glimmer of hope from the people in charge to finally come to the conclusion that what they are doing has done more harm than good.

I end up finding more stories about more veterans committing suicide in state after state and what they leave behind is a burden no family should ever have to carry. Especially a family who prayed for you to return to them and be safe.

What do you want to leave behind when you die?

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." Pericles

Most of the time, survivors of attempted suicide say they did not want to be a burden to their families anymore. They were tired of seeing them so sad.

When all they heard about were other veterans giving up, they lost hope to find another way out of the misery they had been living with.

The thing is, when they lived to fight another day, they discovered that nothing was a hopeless as they thought it was.

What happens after you decide to leave, is something that you should think about.

Your body is found by someone. Most of the time it is a family member or friend. That image will never go away and you have changed them for the rest of their lives. The "burden" you thought you were going to spare them of, has just been put on them for a lifetime. The questions never end because you are not there to answer them.

Your body could be found by a Police Officer, firefighter or EMT. Again, that image never leaves them. Most of the time, that person, who would have done everything possible to save your life, including sacrificing their own, happen to also be a veteran. Yet again, your death just changed them for a lifetime as well.

People who knew you, or read about your death, will think about the thoughts they had about you before, and then wonder, if you gave up, maybe they should too.

If you doubt that one, suicide is actually contagious. Ask a survivor.

What if your attempt fails and you end up paralyzed, or your brain stops functioning? What you thought was a bad quality of life was bad enough, you just made it worse.

Flip that all around and then wonder what it would be like if you fought like hell to heal the same way you fought like hell to fight the enemy in combat. You are looking for an end to your misery in the wrong place.

The place you need to look at is within. All the qualities you had are still there. You just need help to heal PTSD and then you will stop being a burden to your family and start being a blessing to them.

When you give up on yourself, you just told all the people who care about you that you gave up on them too.

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others." Pericles

You wanted to stay alive back then...so why give up now?

#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

Warm welcome home for Green Beret who survived ambush

Hundreds give wounded veteran hero's welcome in North Idaho

KREM 2 News
Author: Megan Carroll
August 30, 2019

Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Sharp and his fellow Green Berets were ambushed during a mission in Afghanistan. Sharp was shot multiple times and almost died.

KOOTENAI COUNTY, Idaho — Dozens of community members are lined up to give a hero's welcome on Friday to a veteran who was wounded in Afghanistan this year.

Deputies with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office provided an escort for Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian Sharp from Stateline to Highway 95, then north to Lancaster Road at 11 a.m. on Friday.

The sheriff's office has also reached out to Idaho State Police and other law enforcement agencies that may want to help.

Sharp is the cousin-in-law of KCSO Sgt. Erik Hedlund, who says Sharp is coming to visit family in North Idaho now that he has recovered enough to travel.

Sgt. Sharp and his fellow Green Berets were on a mission in Afghanistan earlier this year when they were ambushed by their own Afghan support team, Hedlund said.

Two soldiers were killed in the battle. Sharp was shot multiple times in the pelvis and abdomen, and almost died in the field. He was awarded a Purple Heart for his sacrifices.

After Sharp was stabilized, he returned to the United States and has been recovering in the hospital, just recently regaining the ability to walk, Hedlund said. At the same time, his one-year-old daughter, Audrey, was also learning to walk for the first time.
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Immigration changes hit US servicemembers

New immigration policy withholds automatic citizenship for some children of troops overseas, but not all

Military Times
By: Meghann Myers
August 28, 2019

“This country cannot place them in harm’s way and then punish their children and families by requiring them to undertake a years-long adjudication from an agency that is already over-tasked.” Shaun May of the Federal Practice Groups

The agency in charge of approving U.S. citizenship has updated its definition of residence as it relates to eligibility to become a citizen, according to a policy memo released Wednesday.

A change in immigration policy withholds automatic citizenship for some children of troops overseas. The new policy does not affect children born to U.S. citizens serving abroad. Those children are still entitled to automatic citizenship.. (MC3 A.J. Jones/Navy)

It might affect the foreign-born children of some service members when it takes effect on Oct. 29.

Children born to — or adopted by — some U.S. service members overseas are no longer automatically considered U.S. residents or entitled to U.S. citizenship, according to the policy.

“This policy update does not affect anyone who is born a U.S. citizen, period," Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigrant Services, said in a statement.

“This only affects children who were born outside the United States and were not U.S. citizens.”
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Missing Fort Hood Soldier month away from discharge listed as AWOL

Family and friends searching for missing Fort Hood soldier

KWTX News
By Brandon Hamilton
Aug 24, 2019

FORT HOOD, Texas (KWTX) Family and friends of a missing Fort Hood soldier are actively searching, hoping for his safe return.

Gregory Wedel-Morales, according to his family, was last seen Monday night.

His family says they have filed missing persons reports with Fort Hood and the Killeen Police Department.

Fort Hood confirmed to News 10 that Morales has been placed on Absent Without Leave status since Aug. 20.

"His chain of command is in touch with his family seeking his whereabouts," officials said.

His mother, Kim Wedel, posted on Facebook that he just purchased a black 2018 Kia Rio.

"He is scheduled to process out of the military in September so going AWOL just doesn’t make sense," she said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact local authorities.
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